We'll Fade Out Tonight
by passingrossby
Summary: "There's something about you, the way you look at me. It makes me feel like I'm worth something in this fucked up world." He's always been one to take a risk. It's part of the reason why he's a musician. / Austin falls in love with a girl who's hiding a dark past. But she's smiling more and he likes to think he's the reason behind them. Song fic based on The A Team by Ed Sheeran.


_**So I needed to get my angst feelings out. Anyways, this is what happens when I listen to Ed Sheeran for repeat for a long time. And I was told to publish this by my amazing and beautiful friend who I love so much!**_

_**I hope you enjoy, and I don't own anything unfortunately!**_

* * *

**i.**

The first time he sees her, she's standing outside a café looking anxiously around the street. He smiles a little to himself, but keeps strumming his guitar.

He's standing in the cold, wishing he brought a coat as he looks up to the sky and sees the heavy clouds. He needs to save up for his new car and his parents refuse to give him more money to waste. He continues to sing, smiling at the people who drop a couple of coins into his guitar case. He swears he even seen some girl drop their number into it.

The only number he wants is the Coffee Shop Girl's number.

**ii.**

Coffee Shop Girl doesn't appear anywhere for the next couple of weeks. He stays in the same place, singing song after song, still not having saved enough for a new car. He didn't think it would be this much work, but it sure beats working for his parents in their mattress store.

But then he sees her, coming out of the same coffee shop, holding her hand to her neck. She looks like she's in pain, but apart from that she looks absolutely perfect.

She walks past him and slips a quarter into his case. "Thanks sweetheart," he says with his famous crooked grin.

She walks off in the opposite direction, without a smile on her face. He doesn't get it. Normally girls go crazy for his infamous smile. He watches as she leaves, bedazzled and confused by her.

He hopes she comes back soon.

**iii.**

Coffee Shop Girl's nowhere to be seen. It's been a month since he last saw her and he wonders if he scared her off. Why is she still on his mind? He doesn't know how he keeps bringing everything back to her. He doesn't know anything about her, not even her name. He bets it something pretty, just like her.

She keeps vanishing and coming back, which he doesn't get. He thinks she might be a spy or at least something cool like that.

He's finishing off _Let Her Go__,_ when he sees her running down the street, crying. He keeps his eyes on her, while the crowd around him gathers. Why does he have to be popular _now_?

People start to clap, but he picks up his belongings as quickly as he can and runs after her.

He honestly doesn't know why. Maybe it's because he hates seeing someone upset, or maybe it's because he feels this weird connection with her, even though they're complete strangers. But his feet are running dangerously fast and he finally catches up to her, when he sees her crouched on the ground in an alleyway, her hand holding her side and she's crying.

"What …happened…you?" he takes deep breaths, trying to form words. Even though he was pretty sporty, he's spent way too many nights playing video games with Dez and drinking with the football players.

She looks up at him and then quickly looks away. He bends down, moving his hand closer to wipe the tears from her eye, but she flinches and moves away.

He wonders how someone so beautiful can be so fragile. He sighs and settles on the floor with her. "I'm not going to hurt you," he says slowly. "I just wanted to see if you were okay."

She turns her head slowly, to read his facial expression. He wants her to know he means every word of it. She looks scared and he wants to know why. He wants to help her.

"Are you hurt?" he asks.

She looks at him again, and he can see she's trying to figure out if he can help her. She pales and nods her head. She lifts her hand from her side and he can see blood. He starts to panic, because he has no idea what to do.

"I'll get help, oh my god," he says in a panicked tone. "Where's my cell?"

"No!" she shouts and he jumps. He wasn't expecting to hear her talk. As he takes out his cell phone, she pushes it out of his hand and watches as it falls to the floor, crumbling to pieces.

"What was that for?" he asks shocked. He doesn't know whether to be happy she's talking or angry she broke his new phone. He decides to be angry later on, because he just needs to get a doctor to see what's going on.

"You can't…" she takes a deep breath. "You can't tell anyone about this. You got that? The pain goes…away after a while."

"What the hell happened to you?" he moves closer to her, but she slowly moves away.

"You need to leave," she says. "You have to go, right now. I'm sorry…but please leave. I don't need your help," she says in a bitter tone.

He picks up the remaining parts of his cell phone and slowly gets up. He keeps his eyes on her, wanting to make sure he's okay. He grabs his guitar and gets out of there. All he wants is to never meet her again.

But he still can't seem to shake her.

**iv.**

He's out with Dez and his girlfriend Trish for the day on a lazy Thursday afternoon, watching as they're acting lovey-dovey over a shopping trip. He normally tolerates being the third wheel, but there's something about how into each other they are today that makes him want to leave.

"I'm going to get a coffee," he mumbles and leaves the shop without waiting for their response. He goes to the only place he knows in this part of town and pushes the door open. He nearly misses her, but he catches her at the back of his eye. She's alone, staring out the window with a glum expression. He quickly walks over to her table and sits himself down on the seat across from her.

"Hey," he says in a quiet tone. "I saw you here, and I thought I might say hi. You know, you look like you could use the company."

Coffee Shop Girl shifts her position and crosses her arms over her chest, remaining tight lipped.

"I kinda figured you should know the name of the person who tried to save your life, especially after you repaid them by breaking their phone," he says. She rolls her eyes and continues to look out the window. God, he's so smooth. "Um, I'm Austin."

She turns to look at him again, still crossing her arms.

"Well, it was nice meeting you again. I better go order my coffee now…" he gets up. "I'll see you around, I guess." He starts to walk away and he mentally kicks himself. Why is he such a mess up around her?

"Ally," she says, causing him to turn around. She looks at him with a shy smile. "My name's Ally."

**v.**

He spends more time with Coffee Shop Girl, or Ally as she prefers to go by, getting to know her. She tells him about her cloud watching club and he tells her about his love of music. And much to his surprise, she loves music just as much as he does. She even writes songs, which is something he finds so cool. He's had many disastrous attempts at writing songs. They spend a whole two hour phone call going on about music, but she suddenly hangs up.

She's so mysterious and she's hiding something, but he pushes those thoughts out of the way. She's beautiful, but she's got baggage.

She knows everything about him, and he waits for her to tell him about herself, but she doesn't say anything. Instead, she asks more questions and he knows she's putting whatever it is off. He's honestly worried for her, but she's smiling a little more, now that she's hanging out with him and that's the main thing. He likes to think he's the reason behind those smiles.

He's falling for her, so hard.

**vi.**

He continues to play on the street, even though his parents decided to give him half the money he needed. Now he has enough, but he continues to play different covers, come rain or shine, just to see her again.

The next time he bumps into her though, is nothing like the usual times. It's late at night and he's standing outside of a nightclub, waiting for Dez and Trish. He spots her on her own, coming out of the car park.

"Ally!" he says loudly, making her turn around.

She looks more different than usual. She's wearing a short pink dress, which barely covers anything. He thinks she looks hot, _especially_ her ass. He's a guy, he's going to notice these things. But she doesn't seem like the type of girl who would dress like this. She seems like the type of girl that doesn't know how truly beautiful she is, or at least refuses to believe it. So he doesn't get why she's wearing it.

"Austin!" she says cheerily.

"What are you doing here?" he asks as he walks over to her.

She looks around and sighs. He watches her face drop from the cheerful and happy expression from before into a sadder, tight lipped look. "Waiting for…someone…but it doesn't matter."

"Oh, you're boyfriend?" he cocks an eyebrow.

"No, _not_ my boyfriend. I don't have one," she says bitterly. "Anyways, I need to find him. I'll see you later, okay?"

And with that, she's gone. She runs off quickly in her heels and even though all he wants to do is run after her and find out what the hell is up with her, he leaves it.

At least he knows she's single.

**vii.**

"You really do love clouds," he smirks as he sees her lying on the grass in the park. She's watching the sky with a peaceful look on her face.

She turns to face him with a small smile and shrugs. "I really do."

He's pretty sure she's the only person he knows that's quirky enough to stare at clouds for a hobby. He lies down beside her and tries to find the beauty in the sky, but there's something even more perfect lying down beside him.

He just smiles at her and she smiles back. She smiles for the first time that makes him feel like she's actually smiling because of him, not _at_ him or _with_ him. It makes him smile even more.

"What are you staring at?" she asks after a bit.

He should be embarrassed about being caught looking at her for so long, but the way she pushes her hair out of her eyes and laughs makes him stare at her.

"Nothing," he says with a shy smile. "I was just looking at you."

"You're very nice Austin," she says softly. "You've been so much nicer to me than any other guy I've met before." Her remark makes him smile and she giggles a little, looking at him with a grin.

He's always been one to take a risk. It's part of the reason why he's a musician.

**viii.**

She doesn't respond to the kiss like he expects her to. She did kiss him back, but she realised what they were doing and she broke apart. And he sat there as she tried to run away, limping.

He doesn't expect to see her any time soon, but she shows up at his usual place where he sings the next day, with two coffees in her hand.

"What are you doing here?" he takes the cup from her hand, too amazed to say anything else.

"There's something about you," she takes a breath. "The way you look at me. It makes me feel like I'm worth something in this fucked up world."

And then she leans in and kisses him. It's small and sweet and feels like it actually means something.

At least it does for him.

**ix.**

They start dating, and things start out great at first.

Two months have gone by and it's really great. They always walk down the street with each other, he goes to the corner to continue singing and she goes off to do her own thing, whatever that is. By the second week, she starts to hold his hand as they walk together. Her hands are tiny compared to his and it felt a little weird at first, but now he loves it.

He really wants to impress her, so he dedicates songs to her. She reacts differently a lot of the time. Sometimes, she blushes and smiles gratefully, but other times she storms away angrily.

She's so mysterious for someone so loving and sweet. She never really tells him about her own personal life, so he tries to guess. But he still has no idea what to even guess. It does make their relationship a little bit more interesting, but disappointing too.

He still doesn't know how to put it in words, how he feels about Ally.

**x.**

He invites her to his house one day and she graciously accepts his invite. She doesn't stay for too long, she tells him she has something to do for her father. He asks what it is, but instead of answering, she points out the picture he has on his wall of him and Dez.

She sees the guitar on his floor and picks it up. She stares at it in amazement and smiles at him. "My mom used to own one of these, she taught me how to play."

He's about to ask her more about her family, but she starts to play. It's like listening to angels sing when she hums along to the unfamiliar tune. He guesses it's one of her own songs. He doesn't want her to stop, but she places it down when she's done and leaves.

He's never been so obsessed with someone in his entire life.

**xi.**

She shows up at his house one day, her body covered in heavy foundation. She looks like one of those small guys from the movie about chocolate that Dez makes him watch all the time. As he leans in to kiss her, he notices that there are bruises on her arms and her cheek is bright red, like she had been hit.

"What happened?" he asks.

That's all it takes. She breaks down in his arms and he holds her, not too tightly, just in case he squishes her. She's so small and he's so tall, that a part of him feels that if he holds her too tightly, she'll break in his arms.

"I want to know about you," he tells her and places a soft kiss on top of her head. She still feels like a mystery to him, even though they've been dating for four months. "I want to know everything about you."

She dries her eyes and kisses him. This kiss is nothing like they've had before. It's passionate, fiery and he can feel everything she's trying to say. They break apart and they're breathing heavily.

"I want to know all about Ally Dawson," he strokes her tangled hair between his fingers.

She sighs and looks up at him. "Why are you still with me?"

"What?"

"Look at me. I'm horrible, no one loves me. I'm a waste of oxygen," she says in an emotionless tone. "I'm ugly, you could have anyone you want, but you decide to stay with me."

"You're beautiful Ally…"

"No I'm not. I'm reminded every day that I'm ugly," she says and looks away from him.

"Ally, you're the most beautiful person I've met and I don't know how you're reminded that, but whatever it is, it's wrong," he places a soft kiss on her lips. "You only see yourself in the mirror, the way you want to see yourself unattractive. Glum expression, sad eyes, often after a shower so you have wet hair and inflamed skin.

"You don't see yourself the way others see you. The way _I_ see you. You don't see yourself the second you laugh at a joke, smile at a friend as they walk past, the twinkle in your eyes as you tell someone a story, the concentration face you pull when you write songs, which you hate that others love about you.

"You _are_ beautiful. And even if you're blind enough to not be able to see that, the least you can do is ignore the people telling you otherwise and accept the fact."

**xii. **

He still knows nothing about her, but he does know that she's hiding something dark from him. It's driving him crazy from worrying about her and he the fact that he's tried (and failed) to help her when she was hurt twice, freaks him the fuck out.

Whenever he tries to ask her about the incident with the bruises, she makes up some excuse.

He wants to save her, but how can he?

He has so many questions that he wants to ask. But he knows that if he asks them, she'll get uncomfortable or angry and kick him out. But there's one that keeps going around his mind that is driving him crazy.

_Do you love me too?_

**xiii.**

Everything truly is great between them. She's so happy and in love and he loves how happy she is. She even does a duet with him one of the days he's busking. The crowd goes crazy and it's the first time people have heard one of her original songs.

And then one day, after an argument, it ends. A year passes and they seem like they're fine, but she becomes upset. She storms out of his apartment, tears streaming down her face and slams the door behind her.

It's over.

**xiv.**

Dez tells him he'll be fine, that everything will get better, but he doesn't believe him. Everywhere he looks he sees Ally, he hears Ally, he smells Ally.

His covers are darker and he goes through half of Taylor Swift's and Adele's songs. It suits his mood.

He can't find inspiration in anything else, not even if he listens to the radio nonstop. His world still revolves around Ally, as he much as he hates the fact.

She's all that really mattered to him for the past year.

**xv.**

Jimmy Starr makes him an offer to sign him on Starr Records. He's proud of himself, really, but there's no one more he wants to tell than Ally, because she spent the whole year telling him he had so much good things coming his way. He always brushed it off, saying she was the best thing that could happen to him.

He wasn't lying.

"You have to get over this girl," Trish sighs as she slides a plate of pancakes across the table to him. "I mean, clearly you realised she's got something up with her that makes her so…jumpy."

"It's too bad, I really liked her," Dez sighs. "I thought you guys were going to go the distance."

His friend's words strike a chord with him and he shifts uncomfortably in his chair. He takes a huge bite of his pancake, trying to keep himself busy.

They take him out to celebrate the record deal, but he leaves halfway through the night and goes back to his house, looking through old pictures of him and Ally.

It's torture, but he does anything he can to feel something.

**xvi.**

He decides to take a walk along the city one night. He wants to try writing songs and he might get some inspiration walking down the city at night. He walks into a cute elderly couple, a couple of drunk teens he knew from high school and a dog running after a cat.

Recently all he can even try to write about is Ally. How much he loved her, how much he still loves her, how much he misses her.

He walks past one of the dark alleyways when he sees her. She's changed a little since he saw her last. Her hair has brighter curls at the end and it's slightly shorter.

"Ally…"

He runs over to her and starts to panic. She's got cuts all over her body and her jaw is badly bruised. She's not crying, she's just looking at her reflection in her phone, trying to cover it up with more makeup.

"Don't you dare…" she says harshly.

"But…"

"I know what you're thinking of doing, but you can't do anything," she pushes herself up and cringes at the pain. It's not the only place that's painful, he can tell.

But this time he doesn't listen to her. There's no fear that she'll break up with him anymore, there's nothing to stop him this time.

"Okay, I won't do it," he feels bad for lying to her. "But come on, let me get you out of the cold."

"You don't have to do this," she says, but she accepts his help up.

"We'll just go for a drive, forget about everything. Does that sound okay?" he asks.

"That sounds perfect," she says with a soft smile.

He can feel himself falling in love with her all over again. But why does he feel so bad about doing this?

**xvii.**

"You lied," she says slowly as he pulls up at the hospital.

"Why are you so scared?" he takes a deep breath and turns to her.

"You lied," she shouts and her eyes tear up. He can see she's scared and she tries to get out. "Unlock this door, right now!"

"Ally, calm down and…"

"How the hell am I supposed to calm down when you betray me like this? I thought you _loved_ me?" she asks and starts to cry.

"I do," he shouts angrily. How can she be acting like this when he's trying to help her? "I still _love_ you. Why the fuck do you think I'm doing this?"

"You don't know what I go through…"

"And if I did I would be able to help you, without bringing you here. But I know this is the only way I can do that now," he says. He quickly gets out the car and brings her out with him. He's holding onto her arm tightly as he walks through the doors.

And then she's brought to a room, kicking and screaming. Everyone is staring at her with wide eyes, but he can't bring himself to look at her.

This isn't the Coffee Shop Girl he fell for.

**xviii.**

The nurse asks him to come into the room, to try and calm her down as they wait for the police to come. She's shaking and murmuring things to herself lowly. His heart breaks at the sight of her and he automatically regrets everything.

"You'll never know the gravity of the damage you caused," she whispers coldly to him.

"Ally, what the hell have you been hiding from me?" he's almost too afraid to find out now.

"Nothing," she smiles and turns to the nurse. "Like I said, I got hit by the door!"

The nurse leaves the room while rolling her eyes. He doesn't get why she's not compassionate towards Ally, who's clearly fucked up.

And then the cops shows up, and he moves to the end of the room to get out of the way of everyone. He watches them tell her that she's safe, that no one will touch her again. As long as she tells them what they need to know. Then they ask who she works for, but she still doesn't answer.

They tell her that she's not the only one who is in this situation. She rolls her eyes and tries to tell them to leave, but they continue speaking to her. They tell her that he was responsible for the death of two girls her age and they just need her to give a statement. Her eyes widen in shock and suddenly she breaks down. But she still refuses to give a name.

They say they know it's hard, that it can't be easy to be in her situation. They write a number on a card and tell her to call it. She stares at it and pushes it onto the ground.

Everything about this seems wrong to him. What's going on? Why are they speaking to her like this? He never expected something this dark. He's seen her good and bad sides, but she never deserved to be in a situation like this.

She tells the nurse she needs to use the bathroom and he watches as she leaves. And he waits for her to come back. He waits and waits until the nurse has to go look for her.

But she's nowhere to be found.

**xiv.**

He's tossing and turning in bed, the past night replaying in his mind.

She's in danger and she's nowhere to be found. He spent two hours searching for her, but he was told to go home.

There's no point in even trying to sleep now. All he sees when he closes his eyes, is Ally hurt. He doesn't know the full story, but he can piece the puzzles together.

She's going to be okay.

She has to be.

**xv.**

Five hours later he gets a call from the hospital saying they found Ally. She was in an incident and as soon as she was found, she was rushed to hospital.

He drives there as fast as possible and the same nurse from the night before lets him go to the room she's staying in.

She's just come out of surgery and doctor's expect her to wake up soon. He doesn't leave the room, not even once, and watches her as she breathes. She looks peaceful and undisturbed, like nothing can hurt her.

And he will make sure nothing hurts her, because he loves her and he'll never let her go.

**xvi.**

"Austin?"

He opens his eyes to see Ally waking up. She looks around the room scared, but she figures out where she is and cringes at the pain as she tries to sit up.

She says sorry for acting the way that she did, that she was too scared to see he was trying to help. He tells her it's okay, but she refuses to listen to him. She says that he's the only person who has ever tried to help her.

When he asks what happened, she takes a deep breath and lets tears fall from her eye. She ran straight home, trying to make sure he wasn't suspicious, she tells him. As soon as she got to the door, she realised she was followed home. A cold blade was pressed against her skin as she turned around and she panicked. He asked where she was, but she didn't tell him the truth. She told him a lie, but he saw right through her. And then he stabbed her.

She tells him she doesn't remember anything else and when he asks her who 'he' is, he feels his heart stop when she tells him.

"Your father?" he asks, disgustedly.

"When my mother died, he turned from one of the kindest, but stingy, men to a monster. I was thirteen years old. At first, he just let my uncle do things with me. But then that wasn't enough. All these sick men wanted their way with a young girl and they were willing to pay. So he'd sell me every night. I thought that once I turned eighteen, people wouldn't care about me anymore. But no, he still found people who were willing to sleep with me. And if I didn't get big tips, he'd beat me," she breaks down and everything starts to make sense.

Why she was so hesitant around him when they started dating, why she didn't trust him when he helped, why she was so insecure.

"He ruined me," she says in a sob. "And I broke up with you, because I thought if you ever found out you'd hate me for the slut that I really am."

Her sobs echo in the hospital room, making her think she sounds pathetic and weak. That's what she tells him and he can't believe she's actually saying that. Even though he's her father, he's fucked her up and he wants to hunt him down and kill him.

"Ally," he says and feels himself choking up. "You're not a slut, okay? And I would never, ever, think you were a slut for what had happened to you.

He musters up some courage, and he doesn't even know why he hasn't said anything like this sooner. Sure, he complimented her, but did he make her feel loved?

"Do you know why I loved you?" he asks her and he stands up. "You gave me so much inspiration, you made everything feel so _right_. You gave me a reason to sing. And without you, I wouldn't have been signed onto a record label!

"I love you Ally," he admits, tears springing to his eyes. "I fell in love with you and I can't fall out of love with you, and I want you to know that. I've never met a girl that's as beautiful as you, that's as funny as you, that's just so…so wonderful to be around all the time as you. And anyone who tells you otherwise or treats you differently from the princess you deserve to be are just assholes."

Great. He tries to be romantic and ends his big speech with such a classy word, like asshole. There's a reason he prefers to sing.

He gets up from his seat and gets ready to leave. She needs to get better, not worry about him. It's better this way, for both of them.

"I love you too, you know," she says which makes him turn around. "I always did love you."

He walks over to her bed, and he kisses her. She kisses him back and his arms wrap around her waist.

He's never been happier than this exact moment.

**xvii.**

They stumble into his house together arm in arm, the night she's released.

She pushes him against the door and attacks his lips with hers. They walk to his bedroom and he tugs the zip on her dress down until it falls of her and she's standing in front of him in just her underwear.

She's got scratches and bruises everywhere and he feels his heart drop. She tells him she thinks of them as battle wounds and he falls in love with her a little more. He places sweet kisses on every single one of her 'battle wounds', because he loves them just as much as anything else. Then he reaches her hips and he notices something.

She's got a tattoo of a moon on her hip.

"What's this?" he asks.

She shrugs with a shy smile. "You always managed to make me happy and you gave me inspiration to get through everything. You were the moon that shined down on me and I just wanted a reminder of you."

He places a kiss on it and she tells him he loves her again. His heart feels like it's going to burst from happiness.

**xviii.**

His first album goes straight to number one. She wrote all the songs, so they share the credit. She's too shy to let anyone know it was actually her, but he wishes he'd let people know the real her. They'd love her just as much as he loves her.

He's asked to play Times Square on New Year's Eve and he celebrates by taking her out to a fancy restaurant.

She tells him she's so proud of him and that he deserves the world and that's enough for him.

But she's enough for him.

He's realised that there is no way he can do it without her. Because she's the reason he's here singing each night, the reason he smiles.

She's his muse. And he loves her.

* * *

_**Review maybe?**_


End file.
